"An attacker sends an infected packet to a fitness tracker nearby at bluetooth distance then the rest of the attack occurs by itself, without any special need for the attacker being near," Apvrille says.

"[When] the victim wishes to synchronise his or her fitness data with FitBit servers to update their profile ... the fitness tracker responds to the query, but in addition to the standard message, the response is tainted with the infected code.

"From there, it can deliver a specific malicious payload on the laptop, that is, start a backdoor, or have the machine crash [and] can propagate the infection to other trackers (Fitbits)."

Either way, the disparity is enough to motivate an Occupy Amazon crowd. The problem for detractors and competitors, though, is that Amazon doesn't seem to be in the mood to misstep. The only thing that will cut into its lead is someone else catering to developers as well as AWS has, and that doesn't look likely.

Public Cloud: Big And Getting Bigger

It's becoming increasingly important to get out in front of AWS. The problem, as noted by Leong, is that the delta between AWS and everyone else is so huge, however you measure it:

Such "scale" advantage isn't really a matter of data center build-out, she goes on to note, but really is a matter of software. AWS has such an impressive array of developer-centric software infrastructure, which translates into developer services, that closing the gap will be brutally hard.

Why? Because AWS benefits disproportionately, as network effects drive vendors to focus their cloud attentions on AWS. If you're a vendor choosing where to host your new service, AWS will nearly always be the first choice. If you're a student, AWS will be the first cloud you learn, and possibly the only one. And so on.

Early on, while most cloud vendors were fixated on IT, Amazon devoted itself to developers, and has become the default for most developers.

Competing With The Amazon Beast

Competitors have taken notice, and are actively trying to market against perceived AWS weaknesses.

And from public cloud peers, we get much the same, with Google and Microsoft lobbing price reductions at AWS. They haven't worked. Pulling up stakes on one platform to move to another is more than a matter of saving a few dollars. It's a hassle, one that can only be justified by making the alternative cloud more convenient.

GigaOm's Barb Darrow asked which one vendor had a shot at displacing AWS, with a broad array of responses. I can't help but think that most of them are wishful thinking.

Microsoft actually can serve as a role model for would-be Amazon usurpers. When you strike at the Amazon king, you must kill him with developer convenience, not with price reductions or stories of better performance, security, etc. Convenience sells developers.

AWS took a dominant lead with a strong developer story, and Microsoft may well be closing that lead through a differentiated, developer-focused story of its own. Game on.

Wade’s perseverance paid off in the form of Shortly, a simple weather app for iPhone that uses an algorithm to answer yes or no questions like, “Can I wear shorts today?”

“It had more to do with defiance than confidence,” said Wade. “I realized no one’s going to help me except myself, so unless I get the confidence to move forward with my own project, it’s not happening.”

A business and economics major at George Washington University, Wade originally got the idea for a weather app after making conversation with his roommate. He’d never created an app before, so he decided to ask the most esteemed computer science professors he could find for advice.

“I emailed more than 100 professors from top universities for help,” he said. “They either didn’t have the time to help, or just thought it was too ambitious.”

When asked why he thinks so many teachers were unwilling to help, Wade said he thinks "they felt like I was trying to take shortcuts in life. Several suggested I major in computer programming instead of just starting an app right away."

“Some told me to be 'realistic,' while others simply said that I was too young to learn such an advanced topic on my own,” he later shared on his Huffington Post blog.

Eventually, Wade stumbled on Coding Together, a Stanford computer science course offered through the Apple Store. The course had enough material for one semester—Wade blitzed through it in a day. Three days later, he had enough of an understanding ofhe’d taught himself how to code in C++ to begin working on his app.C++.

But his difficulties weren’t finished yet. The Apple Store rejected Shortly three separate times, saying that Wade’s original design was “not aesthetically great.” But Wade refused to give up, even making a phone call to an Apple Store representative in order to ensure he was doing everything he needed in order to get his app accepted.

Today, Shortly has been downloaded more than 3,000 times in 40 different countries and 1,000 cities. It’s not without its glitches, and

reviewers' main concerns are that it needs more functionality. I downloaded the app myself, and think it's a bright, colorful first attempt at app development, but not quite ready for prime time.Wade is aware of these issues, and

Wade is currently working on Shortly 2.0 while on spring break from college. In true business major form, he plans to use the money he earns from the .99 cent app to invest back into developing the app.

“[Shortly] is definitely growing with me,” he said. “I created it when I was 18, but now that I’m older I want it to be aimed more at college students.”

After an invitation from Arianna Huffington, Wade now blogs at the Huffington Postabout his “underdog past” and the ongoing development of Shortly.

Wade is part of a nascent generation of entrepreneurs who have realized that learning to code is non-negotiable. He hopes his story inspires others to discover their own “super powers” amid a sea of “no’s.”

“I think this story means something to me because it represents my wildest dreams and every kid wants to see that come true for themselves,”them,” Wade said.